


Switch Interludes 3 and 4

by corvidae9



Series: Switchverse [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Latest in a series of Switchverse follow-ups, and therefore unrepentantly AU.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-06
Updated: 2006-12-06
Packaged: 2018-10-18 16:53:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10621113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9
Summary: Backstory from the summer after second year (in which Draco finds a use for the polyjuice). (Harry, Draco, Pansy)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Revenge of the crunchy, ficlety bits! Two interludes from after The Chamber

**III.**

"You will never be able to pull this off. You're mad for even suggesting it. In fact, I know you didn't even run this past Potter, because even he's smart enough to know that you are a dullard and a tool and could be putting yourself in real danger with this sort of a stunt."

Draco stared at Pansy, who looked a little out of breath, but none the worse for the wear. "Then help me."

"Help you?!" cried Pansy, throwing her hands up. "Have you not heard a word I've said? You could get yourself _killed_!"

"I can't not know, Pansy." Draco ticked items off on his fingers as he spole. "My father may have planted Tom Riddle's diary on Ginny Weasley, knowing what would've happened to her. He might have tried to kill Harry. He might've... might've done a lot of things. You're the only one that understands." His eyes took on a pleading cast. "You're the only one that can help me."

Pansy only continued to scowl.

"Potter doesn't have a reason to lie. But I have to hear it for myself. I have to know." Draco squeezed her arm. "Pansy, please? With candy and sugar and pink ice mice on top?"

Pansy huffed a small laugh. "You haven't said that since were were tiny children."

"The situation warrants it," said Draco with a rueful grin.

"I have an idea," Pansy sighed. After a pause, she added, "Can you get a hold of Harry's cloak?"

###

The cloak had arrived via owlpost with a note from Harry, saying that as much as he trusted Draco, his dad's cloak had better find its way home to Harry in one piece or there would most certainly be _words_. Privately, Draco thought that if _he_ owned such a thing, he probably wouldn't part with it so easily.

Perhaps for Harry, he might. Or Pansy. Damn Hufflepuff, anyway.

Still, when Pansy came for tea again, she nodded, satisfied. "Alright. Saturday at my sister's birthday party. I'll think of some way to distract my father for a while while I become him and get your father in the study for a drink. You hide under the cloak and listen. We cut out before the hour's over and then celebrate not having gotten ourselves killed by eating a ridiculous amount of sweets. Deal?"

"Brilliant," Draco grinned. "I can do that."

"You'd better hope _I_ can," muttered Pansy.

Draco wrapped an arm around her. "I know you can."

"Shut up," said Pansy as she leaned heavily against him.

###

Harry read the note through a mouthful of meat pie, his stupid grin of having received post, his cloak _and_ a picnic hamper fading slowly at what Draco had written, seeing all too clearly what he had not.  


> Potter,
> 
> Attached is your ~~bloody~~ cloak, just as you sent it to me. Thank you for the loan of it-- Pansy and I ~~managed to avoid filicide~~ had an adventure that I'm sure you would have enjoyed ~~being as thick as you are~~ ; it's just a shame that you're not allowed to visit ~~the home of the ultimate in puppy-kicking, christmas-thieving evil~~ me. In all fairness, it turns out that the Headmaster's concerns may not be too far off ~~and if my father kills you or allows you to be killed, I may be forced to do something that endangers my trust fund~~ , but I suppose that's a topic for discussion in person. ~~Maybe I should be the one doing the visiting.How bad could your Muggles be, anyway?~~ ~~Nevermind-- I've clearly suffered a great shock.~~
> 
> At any rate, I had the house elves make you up a lunch, which means that they've probably stuffed half the contents of the pantry into this unassuming hamper. They might've packed it all, but there's a lingering sense of resentment over the matter with Dobby, and they're worried if they make friends with you, they'll end up with socks, too. ~~And the fact that I know this is probably a further sign of my impending mental breakdown.~~ Don't go freeing any more of my house elves, Potter. I mean it.
> 
> I'm off to find some way of keeping myself entertained ~~and as far away from my father as possible~~.
> 
> Give your Muggles my sincerest wishes to go hang. Then give them the slip and have some fun, or something. ~~One of us ought. Myabe I can still convince Mother we need a holiday...~~ Pansy says hello, though she assures me that she's sent you a rather flowery missive of her own. (Don't let them touch your skin, or you'll stink of lilies, or peonies, or whatever she spells them shut with for a week. Trust me.)
> 
> DM
> 
> PS: Did you see that the Weasel's family won that sweepstakes? 

  
..." _The Headmaster's concerns may not be too far off_?, and where the bloody hell would I have seen that?!" muttered Harry to himself, his handful of pie dipping low. "That's just lovely."

Harry half-growled as he took another aggressive bite, and then set to writing a response.

###

**IV.**

Harry stretched out on the lumpy bed directly over the main common room of The Leaky Cauldron, grateful for soundproofing spells that Tom had put on the floor of the room after the first night. His Transfiguration book was open on his stomach pleasantly full from dinner, halfway between relaxed and bored. He didn't bother looking up at the near-silent swoop into the room, assuming it was just Hedwig back from her hunting trip.  
  
"Hey, girl," he murmured, holding a hand out toward the night table, finally looking up as his hand met empty air and a package was dropped on his middle by an large, unfamiliar owl that didn't bother to stop for treats on its way out again.  
  
The handwriting on the letter was easily recognizable and Harry actually laughed out loud and exclaimed, "Excellent," knowing there had to be chocolate of some kind in the box.  


> Potter,  
>    
>  Nice job taking my advice and losing the Muggles, though it's a real shame they had to retrieve your aunt. I'm lounging on holiday with my mother, and not for the first time a little disturbed by the two-tonne hints and commentary about this being her last real opportunity to spend time with her son, and the begging of me to both heed and fear my father. Let me tell you, when my mother displays more than faux sniffle of emotion other than joy (malicious or not), it's frightening-- the woman is absolutely made of ice.  
>    
>  I'll be back in London as near to school as I can convince her to dawdle here. Attached are some of the local sweets; not that I expect you need it since the ~~filthy Mu~~ Duddersleys aren't feeding you scraps anymore, but they're bloody fantastic. I'm thinking of making arrangements to have them sent to school at regular intervals during the year. That and I'm a magnanimous friend.  
>    
>  DM

By the time he got to the end of the note, the paper was half off of the package and the wafting scent of the sweets impelled Harry to yank the flap the rest of the way. Sighing as he bit into the first --some sort of chocolate croissant pastry business-- he sat back and thought that he could very much live happily above Diagon Alley for a long time, if his first week here had been any indication.

###  


A voice mumbling something about his being a lazy sod and hurrying and waking up intruded on Harry's dreams he was quick to pull the blanket over his head after the third or so interruption with a mumbled, "G'way. 'S not school yet. Got a whole day left."  
  
And that was the real crux of the problem there, wasn't it? No school meant that no one should be _in his room_. His eyes flew wide as he sat up, panicked and just barely relaxing as he saw who it was. "Exactly how did you get in?"  
  
"The help here leaves something to be desired. You wouldn't believe how little it took to bribe the housekeeper to tell me what room you were in," said Draco, sitting hard on the edge of Harry's bed. "I could've been your arch-enemy, and she'd have given you up for what amounts to pocket change," he added, rolling his eyes as he took off his gloves. "Sad."

Harry furrowed his brow at Draco, half in confusion and half because he was still in the process of reaching for his glasses and couldn't see much without squinting. "Yes, well, she probably didn't think you were going to break and enter. Which, again, how?"

Draco waved it off. "Parlor trick. You'd think the wards on _Harry Potter_ 's room would be a little more robust, but there you have it."

Suddenly a little nauseous at the idea that anyone might've broken in just the same way, Harry tried to mitigate it a bit, if only for himself. "You _are_ a little young to be Death Eating, I suppose."

"Not by much, according to my family, apparently. Though I did smile charmingly and insist I was your best friend bearing a spectacular surprise," shrugged Draco, going on undeterred. "But you're still probably safer here than... oh say. At Malfoy Manor, where I now know for a fact the lord of the manor is in on the plot to either convert, secure or kill the Boy Who Lived on behalf of his master, completely Imperius-free."

Harry's jaw dropped as he rubbed his scar completely out of habit. "You're serious."

"Believe me, Potter, I wish I wasn't," said Draco, jaw set as he drew his knee up.

"And this is what we had to discuss in person," said Harry, more a statement than question, and overwhelmed with the impulse to apologize. "Great. How'd you--"

The door burst inward and two people came through, wands drawn and shouting what Harry recognized as a full body bind.

This time Harry was ready, his wand in hand and trained on the strangers at the door, disarming and knocking back the huge, looming black wizard even as the pink-haired witch held a hand up. "Whoa, Potter! Auror Corps! We were posted here to protect you. Got a tip from the help that someone had been asking after you and found evidence of tampering with the wards."

"What?" sputtered Harry as he slipped out of bed and onto the hardwood floor, only able to spare a glance for his very petrified friend. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

After a long look around the room, the witch drew her wand back. "Because I've got proper credentials in my robes, here, which I'd be glad to show you. I'm also going to put my wand away and check on my partner, which involves turning my back to you, and I'd appreciate it if it didn't bite me in the arse. Literally."

"Slowly," murmured Harry, unconvinced, watching with his wand still drawn as she did exactly that. She held up a bit of parchment that might well have been the constitution of Latvia for all he knew, until it projected an image of her in crisp Aurors' robes, hair a more natural shade of red, accompanied by by a very formal introduction of Junior Auror Nymphadora Tonks, officer of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, if you please.

With a significant head tilt toward the parchment as she rolled it up again, she asked, "Satisfied?" sounding more amused than she probably should be. Harry gave the tiniest of nods, though he didn't lower his wand entirely as she offered to help the wizard up, adding in a mutter, "Bloody hell, Potter. You pack a wallop for a kid. Shacklebolt'll be taking shite for this for years to come. I gather you weren't really being tortured or killed, then?"

Shacklebolt held a hand out and his wand flew back into his hand --a nonverbal Summoning Charm, Harry thought, and something he wanted to learn-- though his eyes were on Draco, clearly none too impressed. "Malfoy. Should have guessed."

"Yes, and possibly _knocked_ ," said Harry, suddenly aware that he was standing in his pyjamas in front of total strangers who might or might not be Aurors. He held his chin higher on general principle.

" _Oh_ ," said Tonks through a smirk that Harry wasn't sure he appreciated in the least though he couldn't name why. "I see. Is it correct to assume then that you weren't being tortured or killed, and that we're safe in being on our way, then?"

Harry scowled in the face of Tonks' amusement. "Yes, please."

She cocked her head in Draco's direction. "May I?"

"Yes. _Please_ ," said Harry, rapidly losing patience with the annoying witch, who insisted on smiling as she cast the countercurse on Draco.

Harry winced as he promptly slid to the ground with a _thump_ and a confused, "What the hell?"

"We'll go. But err, now you know--" said Tonks, cheerful for no discernible reason. Possibly, it stemmed from being the only one in the room that hadn't been frightened half to death or hexed in some way. "We're around if you need us!"

Harry only scowled and muttered a sarcastic thanks, as Shacklebolt nodded and exited with a grunt. Tonks followed, though she did stick her head back in momentarily to cock her head at Draco and hiss, "Sorry!" before disappearing entirely.

As the door locks clicked into place behind her, Draco's head came up over the side of the bed, entirely unamused. "I repeat: What. The hell."

Still somewhat surprised, Harry blinked and shrugged. "Your punishment for breaking and entering, apparently."

Draco pointed, still looking a bit disheveled and not bothering to get up all the way to his feet quite yet. "Get dressed. We've got a mission to attend to."

Corner of his mouth twitching upward, Harry said, "Need some help there?"

"No," said Draco, sliding out of view again, though sounding just as petulant. "Move. I've got one more bit of information you need to hear before we go out and find Pansy."

"Give it," said Harry, crossing his arms.

"No," said Draco from his spot on the floor. "Go change."

Harry narrowed his eyes and crawled onto the bed so that he could glare down at Draco, who was rubbing at his temple and still in a sprawl on the other side. "Give it, Malfoy."

Returning the glare with interest, Draco paused and then said in backhanded nonchalance, "The escaped murderer? Sirius Black? He's my mother's cousin. And your godfather."

Harry stared uncomprehending. "Wh--?"

"Move," said Draco, finally sitting up and dusting himself off. "Ugh."

"Oh come on. You cannot just say that and--"

"Then get your unkempt arse washed and dressed and I will tell you the rest of the bloody story," sneered Draco. "Christ, my head. No one tells you that full body binds have that sort of after-effect. I'd have my father file a complaint but then I'd have to explain the breaking in. Unfair. Might do it anyway."

Harry was still staring as he murmured, "I have a godfather. And he's a murderer. Great."

"Focus, Potter," said Draco, with a half-hearted shove. "My head is going to explode and I'm about to order painkillers and breakfast on your room account. I will tell you the rest of the bloody tale after the appalling fifteen minutes flat that it will take you to get your shite together."

"You can do that?" said Harry, automatically swatting the hand away.

Still unimpressed in the extreme, Draco said, "That's why I broke in to begin with, git."

"I meant the ordering up," Harry said distractedly.

"How long have you been staying here, now?" said Draco, clearly disgusted. "It's called room service."

"...Cool."

" _Move_."

###  
  
As they stepped out onto Diagon Alley amidst a backdrop of more than one pair of staring eyes, Harry frowned.

"You're telling me that Black was a friend of my dad's, but it turns out he was actually one of Voldemort's people who went mad and killed a Wizard and a bunch of Muggles," he whispered. "That doesn't make sense."

"I tried using small words," hissed Draco. "That's not my fault."

"Prat. I meant, what would my father be doing palling around with a dark wizard? Much less making him my godfather?"

"That was the problem. People never knew who was on what side unless they got caught. Black was disowned, remember? The whole family considers him as a blood traitor." Draco scowled uncomfortably. "My mother is convinced it was Potter's fault. Sound at all familiar?"

Harry stopped in his tracks and glared at Draco, making it clear he'd caught his meaning, and was rejecting it entirely. "No. Not at all."

"Oh good, finally," said Pansy, interrupting them as she burst out of the relatively new stationery shop. "I was beginning to think I'd been stood up. Should have known to just follow the gossip and rumor." She leaned forward and hugged Harry briefly before tossing her arms around Draco. "Hello, darling. Good holiday?"

Draco let her go and offered an elbow as she settled between them, though she took Harry's arm too, to Harry's surprise.

"Boring at worst. Relaxing, at best. Less entertaining and yet probably more conducive to my ongoing respiration than the tricks you and I got up to," said Draco, not missing a beat. "Attended some of the local Wizarding society events; the usual crowd, you know. Best for slipping out of sight and listening, really. But the younger Delfiniers send their greetings. They asked me to tell you that you were sorely missed. Which you were."

He may as well have been speaking a foreign language as far as Harry was concerned, but Pansy laughed, "How could you not? Steer toward Flourish and Blotts, Draco-- Granger and Longbottom are supposed to be there, as is Ron, given he could convince his mother that he'd be safe in only the most heavily populated Wizarding district in Western Europe with a pack of those awful Purebloods and Slytherins. And Harry." Draco snickered and complied, and even Harry had to smile. Until Pansy spoke again.

"He told you then, Harry?" she said quietly, outwardly busy enjoying the new looks directed at them as they moved in a unit down the street.

"Yeah," said Harry. "He did."

Pansy nodded once, decisively. She took a breath and pointed, on a completely different track. "We're going to Fortescue's after, I hope you're aware."

"Yeah," said Harry, managing a grin as he patted her hand. "We so are."

###  
  
They'd gathered the pack minus Ron, who hadn't owled to say he wasn't coming, but failed to show anyway. Pansy bemoaned his miserable manners as she led the way down the Alley, chatting with Neville, who looked rather surprised. Hermione was talking about the obscene amount of classes she was considering for third year, a stream of discussion that almost made a sort of sense to Harry and Draco until they passed the windows of Quality Quidditch Supples. At that point in time, the discussion became Hermione talking at two boys who had frozen in their tracks and were staring at the best and most desirable thing ever in the history of the Wizarding world.  
  
"...and so I'm thinking that while Divination is a load of rubbish," said Hermione with feeling, "it may prove insightful for comparison to say, Ancient Runes, in which some of the same kinds of symbology are applied but to totally diff--- hello?"  
  
"Oh my god," breathed Harry. "They finally got a Firebolt."  
  
"It's... amazing," Draco said, composure completely a thing of the past as he pressed his fingers to the glass.  
  
" _Price, inquire within_. Right," Harry said, though his eyes were still riveted to the broom. "I mean, how much could it be?"  
  
"A lot," said Draco. "They wouldn't tell me when I Flooed from home after I saw the advert. And I gave them my name, too."  
  
Harry murmured, "Wow," though what part of that statement it should be applied was unclear.  
  
"Aaaand we've lost them," said Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, it's just a--"  
  
"Hey-- sorry we're late! Just glad we caught you at all-- Mum made me bring Ginny," said Ron, disgruntled as he ran up with Ginny in tow, now glaring at him. "And Percy, only _he_ bribed us to stay quiet about his meeting Penny while we skipped off, though he made us prom-- bloody _hell_ \--"  
  
Forgetting to glare, Ginny breathed in the same awed tone that Ron had trailed off using as she pressed between Draco and Harry against the window, "it's a Firebolt."  
  
Tilting his head in fervent desire, Ron walked up and stood behind and between Harry and Ginny. "Fastest broom ever. It's what all the professional teams are upgrading to this season."  
  
Unimpressed, Pansy cleared her throat, though it did no good.  
  
"Hello, Ronald. Ginny. Lovely to see you," said Hermione, arms crossed across her chest.  
  
"Hi Hermione," they said together, still staring.  
  
"Oh for-- It's just a silly broom," Pansy said, poking Neville. "Tell them."  
  
"Err--" said Neville, which was all he had time to say before Ron interrupted.  
  
"Bite your tongue," said Ron. "That-- it's... I mean--"  
  
"It's _art_ ," said Draco. "I want one."  
  
"Yeah," huffed Ron. "Difference is you might actually get one."  
  
"How's that my fault, Weasel?" sniped Draco. "Go on and ask your Dad for one, then."  
  
Ginny murmured, "Shut up, Malfoy," and oddly enough, he did. No one could quite explain how or why she managed it, though Harry had an idea that it had to do with a small leather-bound book and where she'd gotten it. He wasn't wrong.  
  
Settling for glaring unproductively, Ron heaved a huge sigh and thumped Harry's shoulder. "Alright, mate? Good holiday living on your own all this time?"  
  
A delayed reaction later, Harry finally tore his eyes off of the Firebolt, and turned a grin on Ron. "Hey! Yeah, brilliant. Had a bit of excitement this morning," he said, without having to look at Draco to feel the weight of his glare, "but mostly it's been great. How was Egypt?"

"Oh! Mate, it was amazing," said Ron, eyes alight and oblivious to Ginny's groan.

"He's told everyone the story," she muttered to Draco.

Hermione edged closer. "Did you make it into any of the museums?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "They weren't nearly as cool as the pyramids, though. Those were wicked. There were burial chambers and--"

Draco turned his attention to Ginny, though he had to fight to keep his nose from wrinkling in distaste. He didn't have much of a choice, as Ron followed behind Pansy and Neville, and between Harry and Hermione, who actually seemed interested in what he was going on about. "Quidditch fan, are you?"

Narrowing her eyes though she nodded, Ginny said, " _Play_ , too. I'm trying out for the house team this year."

"Oh?" Draco said, mostly supressing a smirk. "What position?"

"Seeker. I might settle for Chaser," she answered as Harry, Ron and Hermione burst into laughter at something or another. "But _anyone_ can do that."

"Maybe so, Girl Weasel," said Draco, annoyed yet smug. "But we'd still beat them."

Ginny glanced back over her shoulder at the window of Quality Quidditch and muttered, "We'll just see about that."  
  
###


End file.
